Elder Scrolls Naruto Uzumaki
by Kento-hish17
Summary: In Naruto's and Sasukes clash with Madara, Black Zetsu uses Obito's Kamui, inadvertently atomizing Madara and Sasuke and sending Naruto through a portal, Sasuke's half of the Rikudou Sennins power and seven of the other eight bijuu moving to him in transit. Landing in a forest and taken to a fortress prison, Naruto escapes, making a friend along the way, and becomes an Adventurer!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Dragonborn!

Now that I have your- wait, I already did this. Well this time, it's legit, 'cause I'm doing Skyrim. Love that game, now I love it more because I've fallen down the rabbit hole known as the mod community, so this story will feature a _bunch_ of mods, like new areas, new people, new... whatever, since there's probably a mod for everything.. I was originally gonna have Naruto replace the Dragonborn, but after talking it over with a friend of mine who's a fan of both series like me, I decided to change it to him working alongside the Dragonborn, who will, of course, be my own Dragonborn I made. I also originally wrote this with the vanilla opening, but decided to go for, surprise surprise, a mod; Alternate Start: Live Another Life, to be exact.

Also, fun fact: my friend is playing Skyrim right now and made a Khajiit character and named it something he just thought up but, after looking up on the culture of Khajiit, the prefix to his character (the completely RANDOM one) perfectly matched his character: 'thief; clever.' We had a good laugh at that. And, based on that same principle, I named my guy with an appropriate prefix (but with foreknowledge, so not as awesomely coincidental)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Elder Scrolls series

"Human speech"

 _'_ _Human thought'_

 **"** **Jutsu/Demon/Daedra/Dragon speech"**

 _ **'**_ _ **Demon/Daedra/Dragon thought'**_

Let's begin

"Ugh... my head." A young adult with spiky, blonde hair sat up from the bed he sure as hell didn't remember being on before. Cradling his face, he looked around wherever he was, finding it was a dark stone-built cell, a lot bigger and more homey than normal prison cells back home; for one, it had a legitimate bed instead of a mat on the floor, and it even had a table and shelf against the wall. Fancy. "Where the hell am I?" Naruto asked, getting to his feet and walking around, idly noticing a chill in the air. Looking down, he found he was shirtless and barefoot, his pants torn up something fierce, but allowing him to maintain his decency. "Madara, you fucking asshole..."

Last he remembered was blasting the revived, god-like Uchiha with his and Sasuke's combined attacks, powered by their halves of the Rikudou Sennin's power. There was a big explosion, a lot of pain - for both sides - and... he woke up here. Wherever _here_ was.

"Help! Is there anyone there?! Please help Khajiit!" A voice outside his cell door reached his ears before he could think on it further, baring a strange accent. As you would expect, Naruto was never one to ignore a cry for help, and he could already here the clashing of metal, so he got to steppin'. Unlocking the door the practical way - with _fists -_ Naruto walked outside of the cell, finding himself in a larger room with six other cells in it, three on either side, none of them as 'lavish' as his own. In one of them, he saw... a cat man with dreads fighting a ghost.

Oooooooh, this is gonna get weird, isn't it?

Normally, Naruto would be heading the other direction if ghosts were involved - even at 17 years of age, assuming it had been more than a few days after that final clash, he was _still_ afraid of ghosts - the mere fact he could see the cat man blocking the ghosts attacks and even returning some showed that his actual fear of ghosts - that you couldn't touch them but they could you - was a non-factor, so he could help!

"Hey ghost!" Naruto shouted, getting its attention, immediately charging into the cell and blasting it with a **Rasengan** to the stomach, sending it flying through two more sets of bars until it slammed into a stone wall, splattering into a pile of ectoplasmic goo on impact. "Gross, but effective! Naruto, 1; Ghost... probably a lot more... But not this one!" He announced, mostly to himself, before turning around to the cat man. "So, Cat Guy... can you explain what the hell is going on?" He asked with a smile.

"Do'Jhan thanks you for coming to his aid; the specter was more than he expected, but you took care of him quite easily. If this one may ask, who are you?" The cat man asked with a slightly sinister, but possible natural tone of voice and accent and manner of speaking; probably a culture thing. Naruto noticed he had markings that appeared to be a cross between tiger stripes and leopard spots that were darker than his grey fur, and amber eyes with slit pupils, his dreads he noticed earlier reaching between his shoulder blades.

"Uh... I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Hey, can you explain why I was able to hit that ghost? I thought you weren't supposed to be able to touch them?" Naruto asked.

"Well, thank you again, Uzumaki, but that-"

"Oh, no, my name's Naruto. Uzumaki is my surname." Naruto corrected.

"...Then why did you say Uzumaki first? Is that a custom of your people? Where do you hail from; this one does not recognize you as Nord, Redguard, or Imperial, and most definitely not Mer." Do'Jhan asked of him, tilting his head quizzically.

"That's how we introduce ourselves where _I'm_ from, the Elemental Nations. And I've never heard of any of those kinds of people. Where _am_ I, anyway?" Naruto asked in return.

"...That is a strange custom, and Khajiit has never heard of these 'Elemental Nations'; are you familiar with Skyrim, of Tamriel? That is where we are." Do'Jhan explained.

"Nope, never heard of it. It's possible that this place could be a different continent to my own; we've never really sailed beyond our own waters. Well, unless I can find some way home, I'm stuck here. Question is, how'd I get specifically in here? I woke up in a jail cell." Naruto pointed out.

"Ah yes, Do'Jhan believes he can explain. This one was attempting to enter Skyrim for a better life, as many of his kinsmen left for the north for the same reason. However, Khajiit ran into an Imperial blockade, just as _you_ fell out of a tear in the air. The Imperials took both of us in and brought us here. They put you in the higher-security cell, and Do'Jhan out here. This one woke up not five minutes ago, and he noticed the cells were already empty, save for the three ghosts out here, but the one you attacked killed the other two, and attempted to strike this one down. Again, Do'Jhan thanks you for coming to his aid." The feline-human thanked again.

"No problem; I always try to help when I can. Plus, I got a personal beef with ghosts, so that's a plus. Say, since neither of us are criminals - I fell out of the sky and you came here just to make a better living - we should get out of here, right?" Naruto offered, stretching his hand out.

Do'Jhan smiled and nodded. "Yes, Do'Jhan agrees with you." The rags-wearing beast-man shook the blondes hand, and they proceeded to search for a exit.

On the walkway between the cells, they found a letter on the ground next to a skeleton with a shield Do'Jhan recognized as Imperial-make.

 _The storm is coming, I can tell. The water leaking in has become stronger. There's no better time than now. When the storm hits, the guards will be assembling to figure out what to do with us. Amidst the confusion, we need to overpower the few that will be standing guard outside our cells and hold off the cell block entrance. We need only hold off until I can get one of their swords and break open the drainage grate in the corner of my cell. That's where we'll make our escape. Everyone move down rider and we'll try to find shelter there until the storm passes._

It appeared to be a letter one of the prisoners made for a mass escape. By the skeleton and ghosts, it both succeeded and failed, so they weren't going to use this 'drainage grate' in the left cell closest to Naruto's. Instead, they went through the hole in the wall of the one on the right, breaking into a small cell block, with another ghost patrolling.

Cursing his destroyed kunai pouch, Naruto formed a plan for both of them to take it down. Running towards it when its back was to them, Do'Jhan quickly kicked the back of its knee to bring it down to them, allowing Naruto to take its head off with a **Rasengan.** Going up the stairs it came down from, they found a small armory the guards had, though a passage forward passed it had collapsed. Usually never one for armor, Naruto made an exception just so he could have a shirt-proxy and some footwear, going for a cuirass and boots of rough leather, Do'Jhan putting on a full set of some spare light Imperial armor, sans helmet due to his ears.

Whilst doing that, they found a second letter, probably left by the guards.

 _We can't let the prisoners out, so either kill them or let them drown. Either way, all guards must evacuate as soon as possible. The storm is about to wash this whole fort into the river and I'll be damned if I have to report one Legion death while under my watch. You have your orders!_

Oh, Naruto had a feeling he was going to _love_ these Imperials... Although... "Hey Do'Jhan, what's this 'Legion' this guy mentioned?" He asked his temporary comrade.

"The Imperial Legion, army of the Mede Empire, based in Cyrodiil, the Imperial capital. Currently the plaything of the Aldmeri Dominion as of the White-Gold Concordat, if you ever asked a Nord." Do'Jhan explained.

"...I followed none of that." Naruto responded plainly.

"...This is going to be a long talk, isn't it?" Do'Jhan observed. He then proceeded to give a crash-course on Skyrim, its people, and recent events. Thankfully he mentioned his people, Khajiit, so Naruto wouldn't have to awkwardly ask and feel like a jerk with his blunt personality. 'Hey Do'Jhan, what _are_ you?' Bullet dodged. Other than that, Naruto learned about Mer, Beast-men, both sides of the current civil war - Do'Jhan expressing his hatred of these 'Stormcloaks' for their blatant racism against anyone not a Nord and the Aldmeri Dominion for technically being at _fault_ for the war for outlawing the worship of a man-turned-god, Talos, which spurred the Stormcloak rebellion. Plus, the High Elves were all stuck-up assholes, anyway. With that, Naruto felt he knew enough to not immediately piss people off... at least on purpose.

Do'Jhan took a pair of Imperial swords and a bow, not able to find any arrows immediately but he was confident they'd come across some, Naruto taking a dagger for a kunai-proxy, though it didn't seem useful for throwing, so he'd have to do something about that. He and Naruto decided to stick together in their adventures across the land, Naruto because he thought it'd be fun and that it would be nice to have a friend so soon in a new place, and Do'Jhan so he could have a comrade as he sought a living in this land.

"Naruto, Do'Jhan wonders how you came to this place, what that tear was that dropped you here. Do you know how you came to be here?" The Khajiit wondered.

"Hmm... I'm not sure. Last I remember, me and Sasuke were about to hit Madara-teme with our attack, then pain, then I was here. Maybe he tried to pull something, and I ended up here." Naruto pondered on that, not sure what Madara could do that might result in him appearing in another place, or even maybe another _dimension_ ; he had the Rikudou Sennin's power, who _knew_ what he could do?

"And who are these Sasuke and Madara-teme?" Do'Jhan asked, causing Naruto to chuckle hearing his unique accent use the honorific.

"Sasuke is my best friend, and an Uchiha like Madara..." Naruto made a point to correct the Khajiit, Do'Jhan understanding this was another of Naruto's quirks, these honorifics. "...Sasuke and I got some crazy-awesome power, but so did Madara-teme, and I guess when we clashed, something happened and I ended up here." He explained.

 **"I believe I can shed some light on the situation."** A familiar rumbling voice intoned in Naruto's mind.

 _'Kurama! I was worried for a second you didn't come with me! You know what happened, then?'_ Naruto asked his tenant and literally closest friend, genuinely happy to have even one 'person' from his home with him.

 **"Yes. I'll admit I was out of commission for the past week,** _ **by the way,**_ **when we first got here; Black Zetsu's interference did some damage, and I was forced to compensate. I only just now woke up."** Kurama explained, sounding a bit tired.

 _'Wow, something tired_ you _out? But how did Black Zetsu interfere?'_ Naruto asked, wondering about the slippery bastard who had control of Obito's body.

 **"He used the Uchiha's blasted** Kamui **on you just as you were attacking Madara, and it mingled with the chakra's of the three of you. In the end, Madara was atomized, and you were blasted across dimensions."** Kurama said.

 _'Awesome; Madara-teme's dead?! That means we won the war! What about Sasuke?'_ Naruto asked, cheering for their victory.

At this question, Kurama went silent for a while.

 _'...Kurama?'_

 **"Your friend... Sasuke... he died, Naruto. He died with Madara."** Kurama broke the silence. Normally, if it related to the death of an Uchiha, he'd be happy, but this was the best friend of his container and friend, so he couldn't afford to show his normal amusement.

 _'No...'_

 **"Naruto, I'm so-"**

 _'NO! SHUT UP; YOU'RE LYING!'_

 **"I AM NOT LYING! YOU KNOW I WOULDN'T LIE ABOUT THIS!"** Kurama roared in rebuttal, not intending to stand for Naruto turning on him in this situation.

 _'But... but he couldn't have died! We were going to win the war_ together! _This... this is all Zetsu's fault! If he hadn't interfered, Sasuke would still be alive!'_

 **"And so would Madara."**

 _'I don't care! We had the old man's power; we were going to beat him, anyway!'_

 **"There's something else. Naruto, look at your hands."**

 _'What abou-'_

 **"Just look at them."**

Acquiescing, Naruto looked at his hands, finding he still had the sun symbol from the Rikudou Sennin in his right hand. But his left... held the moon. That was Sasuke's part... "Do'Jhan, how does my left eye look?" He asked, just to make sure.

Just about to start waving his hand in the blondes face to see if he was still conscious, Do'Jhan jumped a little in surprise. "Ah, Do'Jhan was going to ask about that, but he assumed it was something about your culture where having two different eyes was normal." He responded, unknowingly causing a cold mass to form in Naruto's stomach.

"What does it look like?" Naruto asked, fearing the worse.

"It is... purple, with circles, and commas on two rings. Does it mean anything?" Do'Jhan asked innocently, wondering about the weird design.

 _'No... no no no! This is some kind of sick joke!'_ Naruto mentally raged, Kurama silent as he let him vent.

"This... this is Sasuke's eye. That power I told you about that would have let us beat Madara? It gave Sasuke this eye. I just found out how I got here, and it killed Madara and Sasuke. His power moved to me, like a parasite, and now I'm stuck with this. It was meant to seal Madara and stop the **Mugen Tsukuyomi** when he used it, but now that it never happened, and he died, I'm stuck with it." Naruto explained, grief-stricken at the idea of baring one last reminding of his dead friend.

"Oh... Do'Jhan apologizes. He does so again in asking what is the significance of the eye? And exactly what does this 'power' you received entail? From how you speak of this Madara, he seemed powerful, so you must have been able to surpass him." The Khajiit commented.

Gladly taking the opportunity to take his mind off Sasuke's death, Naruto acquiesced. "In the Elemental Nations, there are three sets of eyes that gift the bearer great power, and my friend Sasuke already had one of them: the Sharingan. It let him see his opponents movements, cast illusions, and copy techniques, and when it became stronger, he was able to cast the strongest illusion in the lands, three days of torture squeezed into a single second, create black flames wherever he looked that could last for an entire week, and summon a giant spectral warrior that could act as the ultimate attack and defense. When he got his half of the power, his left eye turned into another of the three special eyes, the Rinnegan. I fought someone who had mastered the Rinnegan, but Sasuke already knew how to use a couple techniques shortly after getting it. He used its ability to control gravity, and I know about the other five powers; it can absorb chakra, turn the user into a machine full of weapons, summon any animal to attack, read people's minds by tearing out their souls, and heal any injury by summoning the King of Hell. I guess, with his death, the power moved to me. And my half let me do this." With nary but a thought, Naruto had taken the opportunity to absorb natural energy, even through the forts walls, while he was talking, and entered his **Rikudou Sennin Modo.** "My Sage Mode got upgraded by the Rikudou Sennin's chakra, and combined it with by **Kyuubi Chakura Modo."** He explained somberly, undoing the transformation, not caring about the sudden exhaustion, knowing it would pass.

"...Amazing. Do'Jhan would have never thought _eyes_ would give this sort of power. But he has to ask, how did you come by this information, finding out your friend... passed, and what is 'chakra'?" Do'Jhan asked, interested in Naruto's world.

Nodding, Naruto had to give his comrade a payback crash course in the history of shinobi, bringing up the Rikudou Sennin and the bijuu, coming to a head on the night of his birth and the interference of a Madara-imposter resulting in the strongest bijuu being sealed in him, then fast-forwarding to the Fourth Shinobi World War and the other bijuu gifting him with fragments of their chakra, explaining it was his friend Kurama that told him this.

"...That... was an interesting story. Normally, Do'Jhan wouldn't believe you, but after you mentioned the abilities of these eyes, he is inclined to do so." The Khajiit said.

 **"Damn right he better believe!"**

 _'...Oh Kami no.'_ Naruto dreaded that unfortunately familiar voice, and what it could mean.

 **"Hello Naruto-san."**

 _'Hi Matatabi...'_ Naruto mentally groaned a greeting.

 _ **"**_ **Oh yes, I forgot to mention that, with Madara's death, the forms of the other bijuu were dispersed, much like Isobu did when his jinchuriki died, and until they reform, their consciousnesses will take root in here due to the fragments they left you; Gyuuki isn't here because the fragment he left with Kirabi acted as a stronger node than the one in you, so he returned there.. While you won't exactly have access to their chakra - frankly, I believe I'm enough, thank you very much - but you still have access to their abilities like before. For such an empty head, it's getting surprisingly crowded in here."** Kurama commented as if talking about the weather.

 _'Love you too, Kurama...'_ Naruto mentally weeped; the last thing he needed was eight voices in his head, only thankful that Gyuuki wasn't there. He didn't need the two strongest bijuu butting heads every two seconds. "Great, now I have the other seven in my head." He commented aloud.

"...Do'Jhan expresses his condolences. It isn't enviable to have voices in one's head, especially if you _aren't_ insane." The Khajiit said.

 **"That's debatable."** Kurama piped in.

 _'Hey!'_

"Ugh, let's just get out of here..." Naruto said, walking with Do'Jhan out of the room.

"Yes, lets." His comrade agreed, glancing at a map on the wall that showed them the exit.

They managed to find it, walking outside to find the fort had partially collapsed into the river before them, the skies grey as rain sprinkled the land.

"Well... fuck." Naruto commented intelligently, paling when the fort rumbled beneath them. "Okay, let's go!"

"Agreed." Do'Jhan simply said before they began hopping the rocks in the river to cross it, the prison conveniently breaking off from the mountain it was in the side of and falling into the waters.

They scrambled across the river bank, happening upon a small fishing lodge that had a tree crashed into it, taking the owner out by his head.

"Yeesh... poor guy." Naruto commented with a grimace, looking around for anything, happening upon a carving as if made by the owner. "Huh... not so lucky now, huh Lorenz?" He asked with a bit of dark humor. He hummed quizzically at a book by the dead man's side. "Hey Do'Jhan, what's the 'Lusty Argonian Maid' about?" He asked his comrade.

Turning to the blonde almost robotically, Do'Jhan took the offered book and threw it into the river. "Do'Jhan will tell you when you are older." Was all he said.

Deciding not the ask questions, Naruto just rolled with it. "What's with this statue, then?" He asked, thumbing towards a golden statuette of a woman with her hair wrapped around and down her form and holding a flower above her head.

"Ah, that is a Statue of Dibella, the goddess of beauty and love. Do'Jhan has heard there are many... groups devoted to her within Skyrim. He has also heard that the statues themselves fetched for a hefty price." Do'Jhan answered.

"Hmm... well, Lucky Lorenz isn't gonna need it, and we _will_ need money in Skyrim... hold on." Naruto grabbed the letter by Lorenz's side, turning to the back of it and taking the discarded quill to create a rudimentary sealing matrix, something Ero-Sennin taught him during their trip away from Konoha, bless his perverted soul. Taking the statue and putting it on the paper, Naruto pushed chakra into it and the statue disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Awesome! Now we can carry it without weighing ourselves down. I can do this with our other stuff, too." He offered, pocketing the letter.

"...Is this another ability of your chakra?" Do'Jhan asked flatly, disbelieving what he witnessed.

"Yep, that was Fuinjutsu, or Sealing Techniques. My second teacher taught me it when we left my village for a couple years; he said it was an art my parents mastered, so I wanted to follow in their footsteps. I'll probably have to invest in some ink wells and quills, though, to keep this up." Naruto explained with a shrug. If push came to shove, he could use his blood and bits of his clothing if they lacked the materials, though he wouldn't _prefer_ it.

"The more Khajiit hears of this chakra, the more he is surprised. Was that sphere attack you used in the prison also a chakra technique?" Do'Jhan asked as they climbed up the steps from the shack and took to the main road.

"The **Rasengan?** Yep, Ero-Sennin - that's Jiraiya, my second teacher - taught me it when I was 12. I learned later it was a technique my father made, so I was almost _obligated_ to learn it, even if I didn't know it." The blonde explained.

"You mention your parents as if you did not know them; Khajiit assumes this means you were an orphan. Did no one tell you?" Do'Jhan asked.

Naruto's smile took a somber tone. "No, not really... for one thing, it was a village secret that nobody know I was my father's son, since he had enemies inside and outside of the village, so they'd come after me. And even though the same wasn't true for my mother, no one told me about her either. I wasn't well liked in my village because I held Kurama; in fact, my only friends were the leader, the Hokage, and a pair of ramen chefs. I was either overpriced or not welcome at any other place; not until I went to Hell and back saving the village." He explained, not holding a grudge against the villagers. Even though he didn't agree with Nagato's methods, he understand that there was some truth to it; not understanding someone or something lead to fear, and fear lead to hate.

"...Do'Jhan is sorry for bringing this up. That is a cruelty beyond measure, but this one senses you don't hate them for it, so he will respect your decision and let it go. Perhaps you wish to talk about something good from your life instead?" The Khajiit asked, changing the subject.

"Maybe some other time; we're coming up on a tower and that lady right there is giving off a lot of negative emotions." Naruto responded seriously.

"Ah, perhaps a Highwayman? Bandits that charge a toll to use the road. Usually there's never just one, so the rest must be in the towers; this one can even see one on the walkway between them." Do'Jhan observed as they approached a pair of towers joined by a bridge over the raging river, a dark-skinned woman in furs approaching them from a cooking pot by the entrance.

"Hold up; this here's a toll road. You wanna get by, pay up, say, 200 gold, and I won't have to 'convince' you, okay?" The woman demanded with an arrogant smirk.

"...Yeah, no." Naruto answered, before a quick uppercut knocked her right out. Or killed her; that loud crack might've said the latter. More than once, Naruto forgot how strong he had gotten over the years. Normally, he'd feel bad about killing someone without meaning to, but this was a bandit, one of many people who thrived on lording their strength over others, and he was sure man a passerby denied her, and met their end.

"Do'Jhan believes we should wipe out these bandits; we were not, and will never be, the last of their victims if we do not." His Khajiit comrade spoke up.

"Yeah... I think you're right. These sort of people disgust me; the world will be a better place without them. I'll take this tower, you take the other; I'll cover you while you cross the bridge." Naruto said, putting his feet to the wall and walking up it, smirking lightning at Do'Jhan's gobsmacked expression as he defied physics, and popped his head over the top of the tower, finding one crossbow-wielding bandit sitting in a chair in a makeshift lookout post, and one on the second floor of the tower, messing with some stone table _on a table_ surrounded by beakers and giving off a green glow. The bandit had green skin, large muscles, and Naruto could see his dangerous underbite from up here. _'Must be those Orsimer Do'Jhan mentioned.'_ He commented. Shrugging, Naruto went over the edge and went inside, using chakra to silence his landing, and creeped up the stairs to the lookout bandit, slitting his throat silently, and taking his crossbow to look over the bridge and rock outcropping next to the other tower, finding one guard on each. Steadying his hand, he took them both out in quick succession, hesitating in discarding the long-range weapon. "Huh... maybe I should keep this until I can make some sort of throwing knife, or maybe Do'Jhan'd like it." With a shrug, Naruto pilfered the corpse at his feet for extra bolts and the strap, securing both to his back and waist, crouching near the edge to watch his friend sneaking across the bridge successfully. Using chakra channeled to his ears, Naruto heard the telltale sound of blade meeting flesh twice, waiting for a third, only to hear him shuffle around normally; guess there were two in there, too. With a shrug, Naruto redirected the chakra to his legs and took a leap between the towers, grabbing the edge of the more legitimate lookout tower at the top and vaulting himself right into the chair at the table, making an effort to kick his feet up and appear as if he were lazing about, waiting for Do'Jhan. When the Khajiit's head popped up at the bottom of the stairs, he waved at him. "'Bout time you got here; I was getting bored." Naruto commented with a grin.

"...You used chakra again, didn't you?" Do'Jhan asked lamely, receiving a cheeky nod. With a sigh, he went up to join the blonde. "What is with the crossbow?" He asked, noticing it.

"I was thinking of either taking it for myself until I make throwing knives, so I can have a kunai-proxy, or for you to replace your bow since you haven't found arrows yet." Naruto answered honestly.

"No need; the one found arrows on his victims. Besides, there is a sort of charm of bows over crossbows. You can keep it." Do'Jhan commented, 'holstering' the bow on his torso, showing the quiver of arrows with iron heads he pilfered from the bandits.

Naruto shrugged. "Okay; cool. I'll have to find a blacksmith for the throwing knives, though, unless this thing grows on me." He commented, getting up from the chair, before noticing the bow on the table behind him. "Hey, why's this one glowing?" He asked, picking it up.

"Ah, that bow is enchanted; a use of magic sealed to an item for a desire effect. The same can be done with armor, though only weapons have a limited use before they require recharging with soul gems." Do'Jhan provided.

"...There was a lot in that crash course you left out, huh?" Naruto responded flatly.

"Just as this one is sure there was in yours." Do'Jhan responded with a chuckle, which Naruto shared soon enough.

"True enough; wanna take it, see if it's better than yours?" Naruto offered the bow to his comrade.

"Hmm, yes and no. We should take it, but to learn the enchantment. It's the same material as Khajiit's, also untempered, and this one does not know the enchantment, so the effect may not be desired. Can that 'seal' you used on the Statue of Dibella hold is as well, or do you require another set of paper and quill? Because Khajiit found a set for you down below." Do'Jhan said, taking out an ink well, rolled up piece of parchment, and quill.

"Oh cool; thanks. But no, the seal can hold more. Considering the material and size of the matrix itself, it can hold about 200 pounds of stuff, so we can 185 left; this bow doesn't weigh that much, so we're okay." Naruto took the offered equipment and sealed it and the bow in the letter he used.

"Very well; shall we continue on our previous journey? This one can see a large town from up here, perhaps even a Hold. The terrain appears to be between the tundra and forestry of Skyrim, Khajiit believes it may be Whiterun, the center Hold of the land." Do'Jhan observed.

"That's cool, no better place to start than the center." Naruto commented, following Do'Jhan down the tower, finding there was another set of beakers and a stone mini-table. "Hey Do'Jhan, what's that? It was over in the other tower, too." Naruto asked, pointing towards it.

Do'Jhan turned to look at what he meant. "Ah, that is an Alchemy Table; it lets you brew potions and poisons with various ingredients you can find across Skyrim, both from vendors and by the road, such as certain plants and fungi, as well as more... interesting ingredients." He explained.

"Oh, cool. Sounds like something Sakura-chan would like." Naruto commented with a warm smile.

Do'Jhan gave him a look.

"Th-that's another friend." Naruto explained sheepishly.

The Khajiit merely sighed. "You have a lot of friends, don't you?" He asked rhetorically.

Naruto, being Naruto, didn't understand rhetoric. "Damn right I do! By the end of the war, I think every shinobi in the five Great Villages were my friends, including the Kage and the bijuu!" He proclaimed with a beaming smile.

 **"I'm not your friend! I'm just stuck in here with the rest of these idiots!"** Shukaku denied.

 **"Yes you are, Shukaku."** Kurama rebutted lazily.

 **"Shut up!"**

 _'Oh the love, I can feel it, really...'_ Naruto responded with a wanting sigh. Turning his attention back to reality, he noticed something off the beaten path. "Hey Do'Jhan, what's that?" He pointed to a human-sized monolith on a hill, a woman in a robe studying it while referencing a book in her hands.

"Hmm? Oh, that must be the Ritual Stone, one of the 13 Standing Stones of Skyrim this one read about before coming here. Pledging yourself to it allows you the ability to raise the dead around you to fight for you once a day. That mage appears to be doing that very thing." Do'Jhan explained after looking and comparing it to his mental list of the Standing Stones and their locations, finding the one east of Whiterun.

"That sounds a bit creepy. I knew a pair of real snakes that made a habit of raising the dead; heck, the second one raised an entire army of the dead for his side of the war! Then Sasuke revived the first guy and had him raise the four Hokage, including my dad, to fight for _us._ It was really weird." Naruto brought up, his memories of Orochimaru and Kabuto not fond ones.

"These shinobi are capable of amazing and dangerous things, the more you speak of them." Do'Jhan commented.

"Eh, I guess it'd be amazing to normal people." Naruto responded with a shrug. "So, you sure that's Whiterun, now that we're closer?" He asked as they walked down the road, a hand over his eyes to look at the town in the distance.

"Yes, Khajiit believes that to be Whiterun most assuredly. From what I read of it, there will be _two_ blacksmiths for your needs, and the Companions Guild is stationed there. They are a group of warriors that appear to be similar to the Fighter's Guild in Cyrodiil; they came here an Era or two ago. They are essentially mercenaries for higher; there are even rumors that members of the Circle are _werewolves."_ Do'Jhan parroted what he read about the Companions.

"Whooooaaa, werewolves?! I want a piece of that!" Naruto responded with child-like exuberance.

"This one believed you would..." Do'Jhan said lamentably as they crossed the bridge near the farms around Whiterun, before his ears picked up something. "What was that?" He suddenly asked, running forward.

"What was what?" Naruto asked, following and channeling chakra to his ears to pick up what his friend heard, eventually happening upon growling, yelling, and sword-clashing. Finally breaking over a hill, they spied four armored men and women fighting a _Giant;_ literally, it was at least twice as tall as any of them, garbed in furs and swinging around a giant bone. "Come on, let's help them!" He said, already reaching for his crossbow.

Saying nothing, Do'Jhan reached for his bow, both of them taking aim. Naruto, however, tapped into a bit of Son Goku's chakra, coating the bolt in fire chakra, and they both fired. Do'Jhan's arrow embedded itself in the Giant's elbow, stopping its attacks due to the pain of moving that joint, and Naruto's bolt stabbed into its pectoral, going up in a burst of flame and causing it to roar and grown as its beard and lower face caught on fire, patting at it haphazardly.

"Put those swords to use!" Naruto yelled, getting to a knee and cupping his hands, Do'Jhan hesitating for only a split second before planting his foot in them, letting Naruto send him flying towards the writhing giant, swords sinking into its stomach. Planting his feet on its thighs, Do'Jhan pushed himself free, letting the Giant's blood and a bit of intestine spill. Just as it reached to cover the wound, Naruto appeared before it with a pair of head-sized orbs of chakra. **"Tsuin Oodama Rasengan!" (Twin Big Ball Spiraling Spheres)** Burying them in its stomach, Naruto almost immediately sheared off its hand from the force of them, tearing a chunk out of its stomach before the force of them sent it tumbling back, tripping it over the stone wall around the nearby garden as it finally died.

"Well... that was interesting." Do'Jhan commented after everyone else was struck silent.

"What the hell?! That was amazing! How long have you two been working on that combination, working together to just _know_ how each other would move?!" The red-head with a bow raved/questioned.

"Uh... Do'Jhan, how long was it between seeing them fighting and me actually saying something?" Naruto asked.

"This one believes five seconds."

"'Bout five seconds." Naruto answered the woman with face paint, a cheeky grin on his face.

"...What? You _just_ came up with that maneuver? Oh, you two need to join the Companions; we could use men like you!" The woman insisted.

"Oh, you guys are the Companions?! We wanted to join!" Naruto responded, stars in his eyes.

"Do'Jhan never said that." The Khajiit said over Naruto's shoulder.

"I wanted to join!" Naruto corrected himself.

Leaning back at the invasion of her personal space, the red head blinked in surprise. "Uh, well, it's not my place to say; you need to talk to Kodlak, our Harbinger, about that. If you really want to join, head into Whiterun and look for the building with a giant boat for a roof. Wait about twenty minutes for us to warn everyone ahead so you can just head inside without someone thinking you're thieves. Just head downstairs and go to the end of the hall; he'll be waiting there." She explained, backing away and heading back to Whiterun with the other Companions.

"This is awesome! We can join the Companions already!" Naruto cheered.

"Do'Jhan never said he would... ahh, why not? Killing things for money sounds right up this one's alley. We can probably get some new equipment while we wait for her to warn them." Do'Jhan suggested with a shrug.

"Sounds like a plan, cat man!" Naruto agreed, heading towards Whiterun with a skip in his step, Do'Jhan following him with his face in his hand.

 **(Whiterun)**

"Hey wouldja look at that? A blacksmith right through the door." Naruto noticed. "Oh, also, this place is fuckin' pretty." He added.

and it was. Whiterun, and probably a majority of Skyrim's Holds, had that rustic charm that gave you a down-to-earth feel, wood-built houses, a miniature market districts with merchants yelling their wares at passersby, the waft of food in the air, the sound of chatter filling the streets, it was like a touch of home right in front of him.

"Yes, it reminds Do'Jhan of Elsweyr, but without the trees and thin pools of crystal-clear water or tropical crabs nipping at your heels." Do'Jhan reminisced.

"Well, before we can start spending, we need to turn in that Statue of Dibella for some spending money." Naruto decided, heading towards the market stalls at the end of the street with Do'Jhan.

Circling the well, they asked around until they found someone who dealt with items such as the statue, an old woman dealing in jewelry and gems. She gave them 2,000 'Septims', which they split, heading back to the blacksmith near the entrance of the town, Do'Jhan heading inside to re-equip himself and get some more, or better, arrows, Naruto staying outside to talk with the blacksmith, a dark-skinned woman with her brown hair pulled back and a leather apron over her red clothes.

"I'm Adrianne Avenicci, how can I help you?" She asked in a professional tone, taking a moment away from the scrap of metal she was hammering to address the blonde.

"Hey, do you think you can help me forge some throwing knives?" Naruto asked.

"Throwing knives? Hmm, don't get asked much about those, but I got a blueprint laying around, unless you have a specific design in mind." She offered.

"Oh, if that's okay! You got any paper?" Naruto requested.

"Hold on." Adrianne headed inside, finding her husband bartering with a Khajiit over a full set of leather armor, like the blondes outside. Getting some paper, an inkwell and quill, she headed back outside, setting it on the workbench for Naruto to draw up his design.

Gleefully, Naruto sketched out the design of the kunai he was familiar with, writing an estimation of its weight that he vaguely remembered.

"Hmm... this design is pretty ingenious. Sleek enough for throwing, but bulky enough for hand-to-hand, cloth for better grip, and a ring for alternate holding or even wires to set up traps. Its overall design can create two from a single Iron Ingot, with just a length of leather strips for the handle. But this name, 'Ku-nai'; how'd you come across this design?" Adrianne asked, blacksmith-fangirling all over the design.

"It was the norm where I come from, standard regulation. Literally everyone kept a supply of them on hand." Naruto answered with a shrug.

"Hmm... well like I said, they're pretty economical in terms of making them, so it should be easy enough. If you want, I can teach you how to do it yourself?" She offered.

"That'd be great." Naruto accepted with a smile.

"Then let's get to work."

 **(Thirty minutes later)**

After a bit of fudging on physical making the kunai, they finally got the process down to perfectly shape the metal with hammer strikes, making a set of thirty for Naruto, which he paid for, spending about 10 Septims each, leaving him with 1700 left; maybe he should go for a change of armor like Do'Jhan. Perhaps a set of bracers just to go with what he was already wearing, maybe some more ammo for his crossbow.

"Well that takes care of your weapon problem, but now we have the issue of how you're going to actually hold them." Adrianne observed as the set the final kunai on the workbench.

"That's easy enough; I just need a pouch to hold 'em and I'll take care of the rest; can you show me how to make that, too?" Naruto asked, receiving a nod and taking another five minutes to learn how to tan hides into leather and make a pouch out of it. "Hold on." He said, stalling the final step of knitting the sides together into the actual pouch shape, taking the ink and quill to draw some gibberish - to Adrianne - on what would be the bottom of the inside. After that, he folded it up and knit the edges together. "Now, watch and be amazed." He said, finding amusement in what he was about to do, picking up five kunai and stuffing them inside. Before she could comment about _not_ being amazed, he took another handful, and put it inside, unhindered. Handful after handful he stuffed into the pouch, not tearing the thread or shearing his hand up from attempting to stuff them inside. When the last was inside, he turned it over and let five fall out. Just five.

"H-how? Wh-what?!" Adrianne marveled in shock, thoroughly 'amazed.'

"Where I come from, my people have these techniques we call Fuinjutsu that let us seal things, from physical objects to stuff like the elements and even concepts like time and space. I wrote a basic seal in the bottom that can store up to 200 pounds of stuff, just like this." Naruto took out the letter he used to hold the Statue of Dibella and writing equipment Do'Jhan got him at the Valtheim Towers, a location Naruto learned the name of from Adrianne as he asked about places in Skyrim. "Oh, guess I don't need this, then." He realized, unsealing the writing stuff, crumpling up the later, and throwing it into the fire of the forge.

"Wait, is there any way _you_ can teach _me_ how to make these seals?" Adiranne asked, beaming at the prospect; if people caught wind that her equipment came with seals to hold whatever they wanted, her business would boom, and she'd finally show up Eorlund Gray-Mane and his stupid Skyforge...

"Uh... I'm not sure. Fuinjutsu needs chakra, and as far as I know, no one in Skyrim has chakra." Naruto answered, unsure.

"Oh..." Adrianne moped, looking like a kicked puppy, before perking up as she thought of something. "Will magic suffice? I've dabbled a little!" She said, hoping against hope.

"...I'm not sure. How does magic work? If it's close enough to chakra, it might be possible." Naruto answered honestly.

"Magic is the manipulation of magicka into a physical force. Magicka itself is often believed to be either the ambient energy left behind by Magnus' death as he created this plane of existence, or a _repercussion_ of creating it, tearing a hole in the Aetherious, his lesser deities escaping and opening smaller holes, creating what we know as the sun and stars, or it is the ambient energy let off by the dead." Adrianne explained, going into as much detail as she remembered from her childhood classes in the subject in hopes that it would increase the chances of this young man teaching her about seals.

"Ambient energy, huh? Sounds a lot like natural energy. It may not be exact, but maybe, _just maybe,_ it might work. Let's try it out and see." Naruto relented, drawing a seal on an empty space of the blueprint for the kunai, putting one of them on it. "Try channeling magicka into it, in different patterns and flows to see what works if this really can." He advised, feeling a little like a teacher, which was weird considering her was the younger of the two.

Merely nodding, Adrianne put her hands on the seal just like Naruto did to unseal his writing equipment, and channeled magicka in a fairly straightforward way. As she subconsciously expected, it didn't work, so she went for a different route, trying pattern after pattern of channeling magicka, sweat forming on her brow.

Finally, she got something; a twitch, a little fizzle of smoke. It wasn't much, but it was something. With renewed fervor, she attacked the array with her magicka, capitalizing on what she thought would work. On a whim, she tried a spiral pattern for the magicka flow, and _it worked._ Constantly rotating the magicka worked, and she was able to seal the kunai.

Not even caring how it made her look, she jumped it placed, clapped, and giggled in success. Next came _un_ sealing it; putting her hands back, she used the spiral pattern to unseal it.

Then came a bump; it didn't work.

 _'Maybe...'_ She wondered, reversing the rotation. Triumphantly, the seal poofed with smoke, and the kunai appeared. "It worked! I did it!" She cheered.

Smiling, Naruto nodded off to the side. "You sure did." He commented simply, just basking in the feeling of a proud sensei, ignoring the oddness of their age difference; one was never too old to learn, or too young to teach.

"This is amazing! For teaching me this, you can get a 10% discount here at War Maiden's, and I'll give you 20% of the profits for everything with a seal I sell!" Adrianne offered with a broad smile.

"Oh! Uh, sure I guess; that sounds nice. I could sure use the money here in Skyrim. Thanks!" Naruto responded, surprised but pleased, shaking her offered hand. Taking the kunai they used as an example, he bid her farewell and headed inside the shop for a quick stretch, buying a set of leather bracers for 130 Septims and 40 bolts for the crossbow for another 400, leaving him with 770. Just before he left, Adrianne's husband Ulfberth told him Do'Jhan headed to the Bannered Mare, the inn passed the market stalls. Thanking him, Naruto headed that way, enjoying the familiar weight of a kunai pouch on his hip and acclimating to the armor on his arms; a foreign sensation, but probably useful in the future.

Entering the Bannered Mare, Naruto was struck with the sounds of merriment and music. Across the fire pit he saw a man singing and drumming, to his right Do'Jhan was laughing with a man in a robe much like the woman at the Ritual Stone, while the possible owner chatter amicably with the man at the counter. With a shrug, Naruto walked over to his friend and _his_ new friend. "What's goin' on Do'Jhan?" He asked, taking a seat.

"Naruto, friend! Meet this one's new friend; he is very funny!" Do'Jhan introduced, already sounding a little drunk-happy.

"Cool; what's your name, guy?" Naruto asked with a chuckle.

The man grinned. "Call me Sam."

End Ch. 1

Is it weird that I made Adrianne sort of adorable? 'Cause I feel it should be. And I can't find myself to care. Anyway, as I previously mentioned, I initially wrote this as following the vanilla opening, the cart ride, beheading, Alduin; all that jazz. But then I hit a block, and decided, on a whim, to go the Alternate Start route, and lo and behold I have a finished chapter just a day after starting it! Tell me what that says about my writing ability...

Anyway, for those of you who play PC Skyrim, and thus use mods (you'd be doing it wrong _not_ to, I'm sorry) you'll recognize the opening as the "I want to get out of this cell" choice if the Mara statue was there. It obviously wasn't, since it'd be pointless as Naruto knew _nothing_ about Skyrim, so I chose the obvious option.

And like I mentioned, Do'Jhan is my character for Skyrim (when I'm not using my intentionally OP one that's a fucking Uchiha because... mods) and thus, _he_ is the Dragonborn instead of Naruto, since that friend I mentioned talk me out of it. And in retrospect of the Naruto-timeline, Naruto left _just_ before Madara was about to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi, so there's no fucked up world left behind, and Madara is _definitely_ dead, I'm not pulling some shit where he followed Naruto here, the same for Sasuke, since Naruto has his half of the Sage's power. Naruto _will_ train in the Sharingan and Rinnegan, so don't worry, but he won't use them except for serious shit like... dragons, probably. And whatever mod I might use that has really big enemies, I don't have a complete list of what mods I chose, just a rough estimate. So far, that includes:

Alternate Start, obviously.

Jaggersfeld

Falskaar

Wyrmstooth (gonna have to look up a playthrough of these two since my Skyrim keeps CTDing when I get into them so I can't do it personally)

Thieves Guild shortcut

Breezehome Fully Upgradable

Immersive Creatures and Armors

Masters of Death, Rise of the Dark Brotherhood

Roderick Redbeard (fuckin' love this guy XD)

Enhanced Skyrim Factions, The Companions Guild (mostly just the extra dialogue)

Technically Naruto Ultimate Overhaul 'cause... y'know, Naruto's here XD

Water, Wind, and Earth Destruction Magic (mostly for Do'Jhan)

Thunderchild

World Eater Beater

Aldmeri Domain ( _when I finally get to doing it..._ I've literally never played it since I downloaded it 'cause I keep restarting. I'll do it this time!)

Auriels Crossbow and Swords

Orcish and Ebony Weapons Replacer

Crossbows Basic collection

Immersive Weapons

And Stalhrim Extra Crafting

Pitch your own ideas for mods to include and I'll think it over. As always, tell me what you think.

Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yeah, I'm immediately working on the second chapter of this. I don't know why, but after publishing the first chapter I just felt really giddy about the prospect of having a NarutoxSkyrim story... it was weird. So I decided to roll with it into a second chapter. I'm sure you guys aren't complaining. It could also just be because I'm re-playing Skyrim nowadays, though I had to get rid of a few mods for the _hope_ of being able to fucking play the main questline without CTDing every time I kill a dragon. If someone can help me identify the problem, please PM me about it; it's getting pretty depressing, especially since, just recently, it started working again, but then started CTDing again. I very nearly cried. I can't even play the Dragonborn DLC or get the Ebony Blade because of it.

On a less depressing note, I also want to thank everyone who gave mod ideas in the first chapter; I always like having you guys contribute to a story in some way. I'll take several of the brought-up mods into consideration and incorporate them into the story.

Also, this chapter will be extra long so I can finish 'A Night to Remember' in one go, so you'll probably like that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Elder Scrolls series

"Human speech"

 _'_ _Human thought'_

 **"** **Jutsu/Demon/Daedra/Dragon speech"**

 _ **'**_ _ **Demon/Daedra/Dragon thought'**_

Let's begin

"Ugh... my head... why does this seem familiar?" Naruto groused in confusion as he got up from the hard stone floor, finding himself in... a place he didn't recognize. There were pillars each with a giant statue of Dibella against them... oh, there was Do'Jhan; the Khajiit was passed out with his face right against one of the statues bases. That couldn't be comfortable for his neck. Before he could get to his friend, a woman in white and red robes did it for him, hitting the poor guy with a broom.

"It's time to wake up, drunken blasphemer!" She yelled, her abuse and volume rousing the Khajiit awake, only for him to groan and block out the light from his eyes.

Hehe, the wonders of having eight bijuu inside you; no hangover.

"Ma'am, can you please stop hitting my friend and tell us what happened? Where are we, and how'd we get here? _Why_ is my friend a blasphemer?" Naruto asked, coming to his friends aid.

"I suppose you _wouldn't_ remember your friend fondling the statue." She rebutted with a scowl. "And I guess you also don't remember coming in here and blathering about marriage or a goat. Which means you don't remember losing your temper and _throwing trash all over the temple!_ " She added, gesturing towards the supposed trash.

Groaning, Naruto lazily brought his hands together and created three clones to clean up this supposed mess.

"Two bottles of wine... they're empty _now_."

"Some list of stuff to fix a staff."

"A fucking giant toe?!"

...What the fuck happened?

"I suppose that'll do. Dibella teaches us forgiveness, after all, even for drunks like you." The woman commented, ignoring his conjuring of clones, brushing it off as a Conjuration spell. The foul language was not appreciated, though.

" _Now_ will you explain how we got here, and where _here_ is?" Naruto asked, walking over to Do'Jhan and helping him stand.

"Uggghhh... where are we? Did Do'Jhan have a run-in with Skooma-Cat? Ohhhh, this one regrets everything he did... whatever he did." Do'Jhan commented, rubbing his forehead to stave off the searing headache.

"You are in the Temple of Dibella in Markarth. You were ranting when you got here, but most of it was slurred. You _did_ say something about Rorikstead. Maybe you should take a look there." The woman offered.

"Thank you, ma'am, and I'm sorry again about my friend... fondling your statue." Naruto apologized, helping his friend stand as they hobbled outside. "So... Markarth and Rorikstead. We really need to get a map." He said as he observed the town, finding it mainly consisted of buildings carved from the stone in the large canyon they were in, bits of bronze here and there. There was a guy asking around about a building he was standing in front of near them; Naruto chose to ignore that in exchange for getting his friend some sort of hangover palliative. "You want a Sweet Roll, buddy?" He asked, receiving a groan. "Yeah, you want a Sweet Roll."

Naruto hobbled them towards the local inn, having to ask around, and sat him on a stool at the counter. "Something to help my friends hangover, please. And a Sweet Roll." He requested.

"Right away." The aged man with the really creepy voice responded, retrieving some herbs to mix with mead, a regular request for customers suffering much the same. It wasn't an outright cure - there was no such thing - but it cooled down the headache and made remaining conscious that much more bearable. "Here you go." He produced the mixture and pastry, setting the former on the counter softly to not aggravate Do'Jhan's headache, taking 20 Septims, as was the price.

"Thanks. Hey, do you have a map of Skyrim?" Naruto asked before biting into the treat; while he couldn't remember much of last night beyond meeting Sam, he remembered having a Sweet Roll. Sweet Rolls were nice.

Blinking, but shrugging, the owner produced a map for the boy, charging 100 gold.

"Awesome; thanks. Now, Markarth, Markarth..." The blonde scanned the map while his friend took the mixture, gagging at the taste. "Ero-Sennin always said: the worse it tastes, the better it heals. Come on, buddy, it'll help." He insisted. "There it is!" He found their location, finding it was the west-most Hold; a long ways away from Whiterun. "So, Rorikstead..." He searched, finding the settlement about halfway between Markarth and Whiterun. "Eh, I guess it'd make sense we stopped off there on the way here, though the question remains what we were doing there, and why it involves a goat." He wondered, before shrugging. "Guess we'll find out either way." Rolling up the map and discretely sealing it, Naruto waited before his friend was back in... a more functional manner, not really tip-top condition.

"How did we get here? What happened last night? Do'Jhan can't remember." The Khajiit groused once it didn't hurt to _think._

"Dunno. The priestess mentioned we were yelling about marriage and a goat when we came into a temple, something about Rorikstead. Last I remember is meeting your new friend, Sam. You were already kinda hammered when I got there, though. From what I can gather, he might have had us do a drinking competition for some staff. My clones found a list of stuff to fix it, as well as a Giant's Toe, which is on the list, so that's good, I guess. Or do you want to just forget about Sam and the staff?" Naruto asked.

"Do'Jhan was promised a staff... and he will get a staff. Then this one will use it to bash Sam's face in." Do'Jhan promised darkly, though it was ruined as he gagged from the taste of the liquid aid.

"There's a good man. Our only lead is Rorikstead, so we'll be heading there. I found a map so we won't be going out blind. We can leave as soon as you're good." Naruto said.

"D-Do'Jhan, ugh... he is good. Let's go." The Khajiit said, getting up from his seat and only wobbling for the first few steps.

"If you say so." Naruto relented, staying close to him just in case he _wasn't_ 'good' as they left the inn. Just as they breached the doors, Naruto spied a man taking out a dagger and nearing a woman at the jewelry stall. Acting fast, he left a clone with Do'Jhan and struck, grabbing his arm to prevent him from ending the girls life. The man struggled and attempted to turn the blade on Naruto, who in turn turned his blade on himself and had it stab into the man's chest.

"I die... for the Forsworn..." The man gasped as he died, falling limp against Naruto, who let him fall.

"Oh great... a fanatic that would throw their life away for their cause. Like I didn't have enough on my plate." Naruto commented with a scowl. Leaving the body to the guards, he went to the would-be victim. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I-I'm fine; I didn't notice until the woman at the stall pointed behind me, then I saw you and him fighting. D-did I just nearly die?" She asked fearfully.

"Keyword being nearly; you're safe now." Naruto calmed the girl down with a warm smile. "He said something about the Forsworn; do you know what that is?" He asked.

"N-not much, just about what everyone else knows, that they're people who live in the hills and attack caravans. Thank you again for saving me. Please take this." She said, taking off the necklace she wore and giving it to him, the sunlight glinting off the emerald in it. "Please, I insist." She added when he looked like he was going to refuse.

"O-okay, I guess." Naruto accepted taking it, the woman smiling and walking towards the inn, obviously shaken by the events and seeking some sort of solace, probably a seat by the fireplace in it. "That... was weird." He commented after a while.

"Do'Jhan has heard of these Forsworn; they believe they are the true denizens of this part of Skyrim. If the Stormcloaks are the 'sons of Skyrim', then the Forsworn are the _true_ 'sons.' Half Nord and half Breton, they've been fighting for a century. Khajiit is getting tired of hearing about someone or another being a 'true child of Skyrim.' Can't all these warmongering idiots kill each other off and leave the rest of us alone?" Do'Jhan said with a scowl.

"...Bit of a sore spot?" Naruto asked.

"A bit, yes. To Do'Jhan, Forsworn is just another word for Stormcloak. Let us leave this place; Khajiit's headache is coming back just talking about this." Do'Jhan insisted, already heading toward the large double door to leave the Hold.

Before Naruto could follow, someone else caught his attention. "By the Divines, what happened out here?" A man with face markings said as he walked into the market.

"Some guy almost killed a woman; I stopped him, but he said something about the Forsworn." Naruto summarized.

"Oh, thank you for doing that; we don't need more dead in Markarth. By the way, you dropped this note." The man took a small letter out of his pocket and handed it to Naruto, walking off to go console the woman, deducing she probably went to the inn like so many others in this situation.

"But I didn't... aaaaand he's gone." Naruto commented with a flat stare. Sighing, he opened the letter and read a single sentence.

 _Meet me at the Shrine of Talos._

"...I'll deal with this shit later. I got a staff to fix." Naruto decided, pocketing the letter and leaving the Hold, looking around for his friend.

"Naruto! Over here!" The Khajiit's voice reached Naruto's ears, and he saw the beast-man waving at him from down the road, next to a carriage.

Shrugging, Naruto ran towards him. "Sorry I took a bit; some shifty dude wanted my attention. I'll handle it after this whole... _thing."_ He explained.

"Very well. Do'Jhan found a carriage driver willing to take us to Rorikstead! This one has already paid so we only need climb in." The Khajiit explained with a joyful hand on the side of the carriage.

"Oh awesome!" Naruto said, climbing on, his partner doing the same.

"It'll take us a few hours to get there, so sit tight." The driver said, followed by a "Hyaah!" to get the horse moving.

"Since we have the time, why don't you regale Do'Jhan with those stories you promised him back before the Towers?" The Khajiit offered.

"Oh yeah, I _did_ promise that, didn't I?" Naruto commented with a chuckle, thinking on what story to tell his friend. "Hmm... how about my first mission with my friends and first teacher, when everything went to shit?" He offered, beginning the tale of the mission to Nami no Kuni.

...

"They arose from a _puddle? How?"_ Do'Jhan asked, incredulous.

"It was an illusion, and a pretty bad one now that I look back. It was in the Land of Fire, so rain usually evaporates quicker, and it was the only puddle on the road, and not even in the shade. Eh, I guess they underestimated us." Naruto explained with a shrug.

...

"A sword as big as him? How did he maneuver himself with it?"

" _Very easily._ Zabuza was one of the current generations Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, so he'd spent _years_ learning how to fight with the thing. Plus, during the war, I found out that if it ever gets damaged - and it did during that time, it lost about two-thirds of its length - it can fix itself by the iron in peoples blood."

"...Why did he have no eyebrows, though?"

"...I really don't know. Maybe he lost 'em?"

...

"You found a boy pretty?"

 _"Shut up! He had a very girly face!_ He was even prettier than Sakura-chan!"

...

"Ah, so _this_ is where you learned to walk on walls."

"Yeah, but apparently we were supposed to learn it way sooner, but Kakashi-sensei was lazy. Sasuke and I kept training through the night to do it."

...

"So your friend unlocked his... 'Sharingan' just before nearly dying to this ice-using pretty-boy?"

"Yeah, then I lost my shit and tapped into a bit of Kurama's chakra and nearly killed Haku. Then he took a killing blow meant for Zabuza..."

"Do'Jhan is sorry... This Haku sounded too nice to be a shinobi, these people of yours paid to kill and hurt."

"Yeah... he was."

"Especially since you found him very pretty."

 _"SHUT UUUUUP!"_

...

"This little pig-man Gato never intended to pay his workers? Do'Jhan would have cut his throat."

"Oh Zabuza did one better. He couldn't use his arms because of Kakashi-sensei's, so he asked me for a kunai, and held it in his mouth and charged straight into the army of thugs. He killed a bunch of them, and ignored the weapons they were shoving into his back, then he finally got to Gato and cut his head off and kicked his body into the water below the bridge; he was a total badass!"

"That truly is amazing; Do'Jhan does not believe your average person would be able to do that, but he believes you met many more-than-average people in your journey, yes?"

"You could say that..."

...

"So they named the bridge after you?"

"Yep, and named me a hero of their country. Looking back on it, I realize I helped a lot of people and even a couple countries. I went through a lot of shit..."

"Do'Jhan believes this."

...

"Well, we're here." The driver announced, coming to a stop on the side of a road just in front of a small farm.

"Thanks for the ride!" Naruto said.

"Thanks for the story!" The driver returned with a chuckle.

"Oops. Eh, not like it matters." The blonde commented with a shrug.

"You two! You've got a lot of nerve showing yourself in this town again. What do you have to say for yourself?" The farmer tending the field demanded.

"Absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Naruto responded flatly.

"Is that so? Does the name 'Gleda' ring a bell? The star beauty of my farm? Kidnapped by drunken louts and sold to a giant?!" The man 'reminded.'

"...Wow, we were really fucked up last night, weren't we?" Naruto rhetorically asked Do'Jhan. "Listen, how about we get your goat back, then you tell us what we said or did last night?" He offered.

"You're darn right you're going to get my goat back! I'll never breed another prize-winning goat like Gleda. And don't you think of coming back to Rorikstead until you get her back from that Giant!" The farmer said.

"Did we say anything about a staff?" Naruto asked.

"You mentioned something like that... _when you were running off with my goat!_ Bring me my goat, and maybe I'll give a damn about your staff. _"_ The farmer 'offered,' pointing southwest, possibly to where the Giant and Gleda were.

"I get it! I get it! Bring goat back! Ass..." Naruto muttered the last part under his breath, heading that direction with his Khajiit comrade. "Hey Do'Jhan, any chance you speak Giant? To smooth this over." He clarified his question.

"No one does." Do'Jhan responded flatly.

"Eh, one can dream." Naruto defended.

After a while, Do'Jhan decided to break the silence. "Why don't you tell Do'Jhan about your friend Sasuke? You obviously cared for him, so Khajiit would like to know the counterpart to his new friend." He requested.

Blinking in surprise at the question, Naruto's eyes softened as he smiled somberly, looking at Sasuke's Yin mark on his left hand. "Sasuke... was complicated, yet simple. He was the youngest of the Uchiha clan, the people who could attain the Sharingan, and I met him when I was five. I was just walking by the riverbank, and I saw him sitting on the pier. We made eye contact, and looked away like the anti-social little shits we were. Then a year or two later, his brother up and killed every single one of the Uchiha's leaving him alone." He began his friends story.

"Why did he do this? _How_ did he do this?" Do'Jhan asked, uncomprehending.

"Itachi was a scary-strong kind of person, even before he turned traitor. In the Elemental Nations, we have certain ranks people can attain; there's Genin, Chuunin, Jounin, ANBU, then the Hokage. Normally, kids graduate and become Genin at 12; Itachi did at 7. Then he became Chuunin at 10, and went straight to ANBU a year later, captain two. He was a prodigy and scary-talented. Then, one day, he just killed every single member of his family, even the children. And Sasuke? You remember that technique I told you the Sharingan has, the ultimate illusion of three days of torture in a second? He used it on his little brother, showing him the death of his family, over and over for three days in the illusion. He said he did it to test himself, to see the limits of his power. It wasn't until just two years ago that we found out the truth; the Uchiha clan was planning a coup to overthrow the Hokage and insert one of their own into the position. Itachi was given a mission to stop them, then he would leave the village under the guise of a traitor and join a group of traitors while feeding Konoha information. He joined the group of people that would one day go after me and people like me, people with bijuu in them. After that day, Sasuke festered with thoughts of hate and revenge, and he poured himself into his training, and he became this generations prodigy. We were put on a team together, the male and female prodigies, that's Sakura-chan... and me. The loser. The dead last." He took on an affectionate smile at the memories.

"You, the dead last? Do'Jhan finds this hard to believe with what he has seen you do. Perhaps this was a mistake? You _did_ mention you were not very well liked." Do'Jhan reasoned, disbelieving.

Naruto chuckled heartily. "Oh no, I was a grade-A loser. I knew absolutely none of what I do now, or even the basics we were taught. I didn't pay attention. I goofed off. I skipped class most of the time with some of my friends. I was an idiot. I pulled pranks so people would look at me, even if it was with hate, as long as they paid attention to me. Sasuke ignored me, too, but then again he ignored everyone. When we were put on a team, he and I always butt heads, and Sakura-chan always took his side while Kakashi-sensei played mediator. Even when I was on a team... I was alone. But then Sasuke began to acknowledge me as his rival. We trained to outdo each other at every turn. Over time... I liked to think we came to see each other as brothers, and I feel I may have tempered the person he was becoming if he focused on hatred and revenge. Then we entered the Chuunin Exams and ran into that Orochimaru guy I told you about. He pushed Sasuke's buttons about his brother, toyed with us; he was a monster in every sense of the word. He was strong, he was smart, he was fast, he was _evil._ He gave Sasuke something called a Curse Mark, and it gave him incredible power, but at the cost of his sanity. He was back on the dark road he was taking. Everything that happened after that just pushed him to leave the village, and my friends and I were sent after him. We met at a giant valley that was created by Madara-teme and our first Hokage decades ago, and we fought. Sasuke tapped into the Curse Mark, and I tapped into Kurama's chakra. But it wasn't enough. I lost. I didn't just lose the battle; I lost my best friend. Kakashi-sensei took me back to the village to treat my injuries, and Ero-Sennin approached me to take me on a training trip for over two years." Naruto stopped there, as they broke over the hill and spied a Giant next to a goat.

"And after all that... you still chose to call him your friend? He betrayed you and the village, and this one assumes he defeated you in combat with mortal wounds. He nearly killed you. And still you call him friend. Why?" Do'Jhan wondered.

"...I want to say it was the Curse Mark that made him do it. That it was Orochimaru. But I know I'm wrong. He used its power of his own free will, and he made the choice to leave. He sought to cut our bond of friendship with complete lucidity. But I knew, inside... my friend was still there. And I'd never give up on him, like he gave up on everyone around him. That's why I call him friend. And it's why I lost. His hate was stronger than my love. I lost my friend because I wasn't strong enough. That's why I took Ero-Sennin's offer and left the village to train. But I didn't come back strong enough. All I learned was a single technique." Naruto's hand flicked open, a **Rasengan** forming in it, before it grew to the size of a beach ball. "But this technique... is strong enough to beat you!" He yelled, jumping from the hill right at the Giant, jamming the technique right into its stomach, the jutsu ballooning in size to engulf its entire form, carving up the earth and blowing it away, a massive crater left in his wake, not a single sign of the Giant left. "All of my failures made me stronger, but it had to start somewhere, and it started with Sasuke. Again and again, I wasn't strong enough, I wasn't there for someone. Asuma-sensei, Ero-Sennin, the village, Neji... And now Sasuke again." He said, looking at the symbol on his left hand, bringing it to cover his left eye, Sasuke's eye. " _That_ is the kind of person Sasuke was. He made me better." He finished. Without another word, he created a clone and had it carry the goat, having no time to lead it back to village and deal with its wandering around.

 _'Oh Naruto... behind your happiness, there is a great sadness, no?'_ Do'Jhan observed somberly, following his friend silently.

Neither of them said a word the entire way back to Rorikstead, the goat baa'ing now and then. They made greater time getting there than they took finding the goat, and approached Ennis.

"Here's your goat; now tell us what happened last night." Naruto demanded in a tired voice.

"Oh Gleda, thank the Divines! Thank you for returning her to me without a scratch! All I could tell from your slurs was 'paying Ysolda in Whiterun back.' I'm sorry I couldn't help more." Ennis apologized as he took his goat.

"Isn't this such great fun, Naruto? Moving from one town to another, retracing our steps? Perhaps it will bring us to Windhelm, the Stormcloaks home; oh yes, that would make Khajiit's day if he could just go in and slaughter them all, or perhaps Do'Jhan could do so with the staff once it is repaired, no?" Do'Jhan attempted to lift his friends mood with faux-dark humor.

"...The more you talk about the Stormcloaks, the more I think they made you stub your toe or something." Naruto finally commented.

Do'Jhan laughed heartily and clapped Naruto on the back. "There it is, my friend! Do'Jhan worried you would remain in this funk. It felt good to let the emotions out, though, no?" He pointed out.

Naruto smiled slightly, thankful for a friend who was looking out for him, even if they've known each other for... two, maybe three days. "Yeah... it felt good to let it out. Thanks Do'Jhan. Now let's go find this Ysolda and figure out what this has to do with a fucking marriage. I was worried one of us had married the goat, but that's thankfully not true. Thought now I'm worried it might be something worse. Let's fix this!" Naruto slowly started to freak out, booking it for the carriage, thankful the guy from before stayed.

"Yes, let's! Do'Jhan does not wish to be married without remembering it!" The Khajiit agreed, following Naruto with equal fervor.

"Here's 50 gold, take us to Whiterun as fast as you can, please!" Naruto begged, chucking the bag to the driver and hopping into the cart.

"Huh?! Wha?!" The driver started with a snort, looking around, then down at the bag of gold in his lap. "I was on break; what happened?" He asked drunkenly.

"Whiterun, fast!" Do'Jhan summarized.

"O-oh, uh okay! Hyaah!" The driver pocketed the bag and snapped the reigns.

"If I'm going to ruin someone else's life by being with me forever I wanna be conscious for it!" Naruto said somewhat jokingly as the wind whipped their faces.

"Do'Jhan just isn't ready to marry yet!" The Khajiit said.

 **(Whiterun, Market)**

Naruto and Do'Jhan burst through the gates to Whiterun and ran to where a majority of its denizens would be around this time. Before they could even start asking around for Ysolda, a woman approached them.

"So, you're finally back. Look, I've been patient, but you still owe me." She said.

"Do I dare ask how much I owe you?" Naruto asked.

"It's not about the money, really. I wouldn't have given you the wedding ring on credit if you weren't so _obviously in love."_ Ysolda sighed airily at the memory. "But if there isn't going to be a wedding, the least you can do is give the ring back. That was one of my best pieces." She added.

"Did I mention what I did with it?" Naruto fished.

"You went right out to give it to your fiancé. Don't you remember where you left her?" Ysolda asked, confused. "And after you told me that _sweet story_ of how you met in Witchmist Grove! I can see why she left you..." She judged him with her eyes.

"Ignoring that last part, that was actually helpful! To Witchmist Grove! ...Where's Witchmist Grove?" Naruto asked his map-wielding friend sheepishly.

"...South of Kynesgrove; this one believes the carriage driver can take us there, and we must walk the rest of the way. It's not that far from it, so it shouldn't be a problem." Do'Jhan answered, showing Naruto both spots on the map. "Which is actually very helpful, because Do'Jhan was told to search out a man in Kynesgrove by the name of Shady Sam." He added.

"...Sounds shady." Naruto commented lamely.

"Yes, is very shady, but Do'Jhan was told to find him for a job that would pay a lot. However, Do'Jhan would ask that you accompany him in case in turns out to be some sort of scam on Khajiit for coming to Skyrim." Do'Jhan requested.

"Of course; I'll knock out the guys lights out if he plans to play you just because you're not from here." Naruto promised.

"Thank you." Do'Jhan merely nodded, but smiled.

They headed for the carriage and paid another 50 gold for a ride to Kynesgrove.

"So, want more story-time?" Naruto asked with a chuckle.

"Hmm, yes. Tell Do'Jhan about this man you met that had that eye of yours, the Rinnegan. He is another strange character you met, yes?" The Khajiit requested.

"Ah, Nagato... Sure, I can talk about him. He was the puppet-leader of that organization I told you about that were after people like me. He was also my cousin." Naruto said with a straight face.

"...Family problems?" Do'Jhan commented.

Naruto merely chuckled heartily. "Ah, I doubt he even knew himself, and I only found out during the war, after he died... and was revived. Kabuto's fault, remember?" He pointed out to remind him, receiving a nod. "Anyway, Nagato was actually one of Ero-Sennin's students before me; he was part of a trio of orphans from the Land of Rain, a country ravaged by wars between bigger nations, even when they weren't _in_ them. They were just caught in the crossfire. The Third War killed Nagato's parents, and he found friends in two others, Yahiko and Konan, and they were found by Ero-Sennin. Fast forward a couple years, Yahiko dies, Nagato sort of snaps and takes on this mentality and persona, Pein. That's with an E. Anyway, Nagato got his legs blown off by the then-leader of the Hidden Rain, Hanzo the Salamander, so he needed a proxy to fight. Those abilities I told you about from the Rinnegan? He took six corpses, including Yahiko's, and had them each hold a Path, one power each, thus was Pein. Nagato had a plan to take all the bijuu and create a weapon of mass destruction that he would use to destroy a village and bring false peace through fear. Then, when time passed and people forget their fear, he would either use it again, or someone else would get it and use it, bringing another era of fear-peace. He wanted to teach the world pain, just as he learned. Actually... let me try something." _'Hey guys, is it possible?'_ Naruto asked his tenants.

 **"Hmm... yes, I believe it's possible to show him your memories by using the Bijuu Telepathy. Just manipulate your chakra to synchronize with the wavelength of his untapped magicka. It should be easy enough** _ **because**_ **its untapped."** Kurama answered as the bijuu came to a consensus.

 _'Cool.'_ "Better idea; I can show you what he said to me." Naruto said, holding his fist out.

Do'Jhan looked at it quizzically. "How would you go about this, and what does it have to do with your fist?" He asked.

"Just bump it with yours and you'll see." Was all Naruto said.

Deciding to trust Naruto, Do'Jhan acquiesced, bumping his fist with Naruto's.

 _And lost his shit._

 **(Shared Mindscape)**

Appearing in the Bijuu Telepathy plane, without the bijuu, Naruto stood opposite his disoriented friend. "Just take a minute; it was disorienting for me, too." He said.

"Where... where is Do'Jhan?" The Khajiit asked, holding his head.

"This is the Bijuu Telepathy Plane, the shared mindscape created for the bijuu to communicate across distances; I first came here during the war when six of the other bijuu containers were reincarnated for the enemy, and they spoke to me while we fought. Speaking of which, turn around." Naruto advised.

Hesitating slightly, fearful it would disorient him again, Do'Jhan spun around, only to balk when he saw eight gargantuan beasts sitting before him. Some sort of raccoon creature, a flaming cat, a... turtle in the loosest form of the word, a tailed gorilla - _that_ was confusing... - a dolphin-headed horse - sure, why not? - a slug, a bug, and a long-eared fox. All that was missing was some creature with eight tails, as these had consecutively increasing tails.

 **"Hello, cat."** Kurama greeted in his 'special' way.

 _ **"Helloooo~"**_ Matatabi greeted coyly, leaning down and getting a bit close, an odd smile on her muzzle.

"Do'Jhan is uncomfortable!" The Khajiit announced, backing away.

Naruto chuckled heartily. "Now now, Matatabi, let's not scare our guest. I brought him here to show him Nagato, not to let you harass him." He chastised good-naturedly, the Nibi huffing and backing off.

"These... these are the beasts you spoke of? And they are inside you?" Do'Jhan asked.

"Yep. In order: Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuo, Saiken, Choumei, and Kurama. They were each in a different person, and even Kurama was in my mother before me, but was released on the night of my birth by a family of Sasuke's, actually; he was a pretty bad guy until the very end where he joined us. Anyway, that's not the main reason why I brought you here, but I thought it'd be nice to introduce you to them." Naruto explained.

"Well... Do'Jhan was pleased to meet all of you. It is interesting to meet these 'bijuu' his friend speaks so highly of, especially you Kurama, given you've been with him the longest. But what _did_ you bring Khajiit here for, then?" Do'Jhan asked, bowing his head to the bijuu in greeting.

"Like I said, I brought you here to show you my memory of my meeting with Pein; I can do that here, since it's my mind that's also shared, not just the bijuu's." Naruto explained, turning to an empty part of the air and concentrating on it, a distortion slowly forming. "Just for a bit of context, this was after he killed Ero-Sennin _and_ flattened all of Konoha, killing a lot of people, including Kakashi-sensei and one of my friends." He added, the distortion finally forming into a scene Naruto was familiar with.

Do'Jhan saw his friend, about a year or two younger, wearing a red cloak and speared to the ground by black rods in a great, barren expanse, an orange-haired man with the Rinnegan and piercings on his face wearing a black cloak with red clouds standing above him.

 _"You asked me why I'm doing all this... but even if I told you why, I doubt very strongly that the knowledge would change anything at all. But let's say that I take the time to explain it to you; what do you think would happen then?" Pein asked rhetorically._

 _"I have nothing to say to you." Naruto responded with a scowl and a glare._

 _"My goal is to fulfill the dream even Jiraiya-sensei was unable to achieve. As I said earlier, what I want is to bring about peace and create justice." Pein continued as if Naruto said nothing._

 _"Create peace? Justice? Are you_ kidding _me?! Give me a break! You killed my mentor, and my sensei, hurt my friends, destroyed my village!" Naruto exploded, his fingers gouging the earth even as pain lanced through his arms from the chakra receivers piercing his hands. "After all of the horrible things that you've done, don't you dare talk about peace and justice!" He said, the exhaustion of the fight and the draining effect of the rods causing him to lower his head, panting heavily._

 _Pein was silent for a moment, observing him. "Then tell me, what is_ your _goal?" He finally asked._

 _"First I'm going to kill you!" Naruto declared, snapping his head up to glare at Pein again. "And then, I'm going to bring peace to the shinobi world!" He continued._

 _"...Oh I see. That_ is _noble of you." Pein mocked. "That_ would _be justice. However... what about_ my _family?_ My _friends?_ My _village? They suffered the same fate as this village at the hands of you Konoha shinobi; how is it fair to let only_ you _preach about peace and justice?" Pein asked with a certain edge in his tone._

 _"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto asked, uncomprehending._

 _"Once, Hi no Kuni and Konoha's influence had grown too big. To protect their national interest, they forced feudal clans to wage war against each other, and profited from it, otherwise, the people of the villages would have starved. As it happened, our little nation and its villages became the battlefield where the great nations waged their war. Each time they did, our nation was ravaged and laid to waste. After many such battles, the great nations stabilized, but our smaller nation suffered, and it barely recovered." Pein's words caused Naruto's eyes to fall as he contemplated this information. "You and I are both seeking the same thing; we both want to achieve the peace that Jiraiya-sensei envisioned. You and I are the_ same; _we're both motivated by our desire for peace and justice. The justice that I have delivered against Konoha is no different from what you are trying to do to me. Everyone feels the same pain when losing something dear. You and I have both experienced that pain. You strive for_ your _justice, and I strive for_ mine. _We're both just ordinary men who've been driven to seek vengeance in the name of justice. And, if one comes to call vengeance justice, such justice will only breed further vengeance, and trigger a vicious cycle of hatred. Right now we live in such a cycle; I know the past and can foretell our future. It is the same as our history. So we believe that human beings simply cannot understand each other, and never will. The shinobi world of ours is ruled by hatred, and hatred alone." Pein monologued darkly._

 _After that, the scene shimmered, and changed to an earlier memory, a white-haired man sitting on the steps of a small shack, an even younger Naruto sitting before him, bereft of the red cloak._

 _"However... even_ I'm _able to see that there is entirely too much hate in this shinobi world of ours." Jiraiya commented somberly._

 _"There's... too much hate?" The young blonde parroted questioningly._

 _Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head, thinking of a way to explain it further. "I've always wanted to do something about all this hatred. I'm just not quite sure how to go about it as of yet. But I truly believe, that eventually the day will come when all people will understand one another and live in harmony." He said with a determined grin._

 _"Boy, it sure sounds kind of complicated to me." Naruto admitted with a chuckle._

 _"And if I can't_ find _the solution to this problem, then perhaps I'll entrust_ you _to find it instead, eh Naruto?" Jiraiya sort of requested of his student._

 _Naruto grinned and gave a goofy salute. "Yes sir! I can't turn down a request from my sensei, can I Ero-Sennin?" He asked rhetorically._

 _The scene changed back to Pein standing over Naruto._

 _"So Naruto, how would_ you _confront this hatred in order to create peace? I want to know what your answer is." Pein requested stoically._

 _Naruto closed his eyes in thought, trying desperately to find an answer._

 _He found none._

 _"...I don't know. I don't_ have _an answer." He finally said._

 _The wind howled and blew dust in the ensuing silence, Pein merely staring down at him._

 _"But you see,_ that _is why I formed the Akatsuki, to break the cycle of hatred. I can put an end to it, but I need the Kyuubi; I must have its power in order to achieve that goal. I'll use the power of all nine beasts to create a bijuu-weapon many times stronger than the one that flattened this village, strong enough to wipe out an entire_ nation _instantly." Pein insisted._

 _Naruto's eyes widened in shock and horror at the thought of such a thing. "A bijuu-weapon?" He parroted the insane idea._

 _"I'm going to show the world what true pain is, and stop all wars with the terror that pain will inspire. I shall lead the world down the road to stability and peace!" Pein explained._

 _"But if you do achieve peace like that, then the whole thing is nothing but a big lie!" Naruto pointed out._

 _"Human beings are not the most intelligent of creatures; this is the only way that peace can be achieved. Of course after several decades, that pain, too, will eventually fade with time. It will no longer act as a deterrent, humanity will return to war again; this time, they themselves will use the bijuu-weapon against one another, and reconfirm what true pain is. And then for a time, peace will briefly be restored again. In the course of this endless cycle of hatred begetting more hatred, this unbearable pain will give rise to momentary peace. That is my dream and my goal." Pein proclaimed, going oddly silent after that before making direct eye-contact with Naruto. "Peace is now within our reach. I can see it." He said with a deadly whisper._

The memory faded, and Naruto turned to his silent friend. "That is what he said; that was his plan for peace." He said.

"...It almost makes you think, no? That he could be right. You told Do'Jhan the war you were in was the fourth, thus there were three others, times and events where much suffering occurred, and for what? Land? Money? Feuds? Or perhaps war for the sake of war? His question... Khajiit does not have an answer. He cannot see a way to peace, from what this Pein said of your world. But this one believes you have an answer now, just as you did not then?" Do'Jhan concluded, sensing the confidence Naruto now exuded.

"Yes... I have an answer. I would take on their hatred, all of it, and bear it on my shoulders. I would smile, and say that I loved them, even when they spat insults at me. That's why I said I would answer any call for help. And it worked; the five great nations came together for the war, and I know they'd keep it after it, and I even made friends with the bijuu!" Naruto proclaimed, throwing his arms open as he looked up the bijuu, each chuckling. "Especially Kurama! He was a big ball of hate, but I turned him around!" He added.

 **"Shut up, brat!"**

"Don't run from my love, Kurama!" Naruto yelled, running at the Kyuubi to embrace him, despite his size.

 **"Get out of here!"** Kurama flicked Naruto like a bug, and they were thrown out of the shared mindscape, reappearing in the carriage.

 **(Carriage)**

"...Do'Jhan wonders about your sanity, sometimes." The Khajiit commented once he acclimated to being back in reality.

"Bah, he's just shy." Naruto said with a shrug and a grin, ignoring the killer intent he felt from the seal.

"We're here!" The driver announced, coming to a stop in front of a single inn-like building.

"Huh... guess we spent longer in there than I thought." Naruto observed as he and Do'Jhan climbed out of the carriage. "Thanks again!"

"No problem." The driver waved as they walked away, heading inside for Do'Jhan's bit of business before they would head south for Witchmist Grove.

"Come on in! Let in the warm and get out the cold!" The woman at the counter greeted as they walked inside.

"I like her already." Naruto said to his friend, stepping up to warm himself, having not noticed how cold he actually was once they entered Eastmarch territory. "Excuse me, do you have any winter clothes for walkin' about?" He asked the woman.

"Sure do, right here under the counter. That'll be 200 for a full set, so 400 for both of you." The woman answered, bringing up a full set of fur-wear for both of them.

"Thank you." Naruto said, paying the woman and taking his set, Do'Jhan taking his own.

"You can just pop in one of the rooms for a tic to change." The woman offered, receiving a pair of nods as they did just that.

Naruto sealed his armor in an array he made from the equipment Do'Jhan got him back at the Towers, putting the furs on and sighing at the warmth before walking out, taking Do'Jhan's armor and sealing them as well, approaching the woman at the counter. "Excuse me, do you know about someone by the tag Shady Sam?" He asked for his friend.

"Oh, Sam? Yeah, he comes by here at least once a day; sorry, but you already missed him for today, he'll be here tomorrow around noon. Just in case you're able to meet up with him on the road, you can recognize him by the hood and cloak he wears." The woman offered, giving an apologetic smile.

"Should've known it wouldn't be that easy. Thank you anyway." He said, leaving with Do'Jhan.

"The map said Witchmist Grove was directly south of Kynesgrove, in the forest just before the geyser fields." Do'Jhan reminded him.

"Geyser fields? That sounds pretty neat, though probably a bad idea to head into while we're dressed like this; heatstroke doesn't sound fun." Naruto responded as they moved down the road.

"Do'Jhan agrees; it would be even worse for him because this own already has fur, but it can only get him so far in this frigid air." The Khajiit agreed.

They stayed silent for a while, merely traversing the forest in search of Witchmist Grove, until the happened upon a large shack surrounded by a ring of stakes.

"This is pretty small for a grove, but whatever floats Skyrims boat." Naruto commented with a shrug.

"Do'Jhan agrees; this one also has the feeling that there are a lot of these single-structure areas in Skyrim that are their own properties." Do'Jhan commented with a shrug.

"Well, Ysolda said something about a marriage here, so let's face the music and just get that ring back." Naruto said, walking around the perimeter until he came to a gap at the foot of the stairs leading inside while a figure walked down them.

 _"Daaaarling..."_

"...What... the _fuck_ is that?" Naruto asked in response to the... _thing_ before him.

Do'Jhan merely answered by laughing uproariously at his friend.

"I was worried you wouldn't come back, but you did! You returned, to consummate our love...~" The terrifying bird-hag woman creature rasped, her large claws clasped together.

"Oh! Oh, Do'Jhans ribs! Th-they hurt!" The Khajiit said on the ground.

"L-listen, can I get the ring back? I want to, uh... g-get it engraved! ...You do that with rings, right?" Naruto requested by the seat of his pants.

"I know what you're doing! You're going to take it to that hussy Esmerelda, the one with the dark feathers, aren't you?! Well if I can't have you, no one can!" The Hagraven responded, fire alighting in her claws, lobbing a pair of fireballs at the blonde.

"Oh fuck!" Naruto said appropriately, turning tail and dodging the hailstorm of fire.

In the face of his friend risking being barbecued, Do'Jhan managed to get himself together - using his swords to help himself up - and began chasing the Hagraven.

Dodging the latest fireball, Naruto returned fire with a kunai, a pained squawk telling him he hit his mark, the fireballs coming half as slow telling him he possibly hit her hand. With the threat of fire severely dampened, he spun around and created a **Rasengan** in one hand and held a kunai in the other, charging her and using the technique as a shield against the fireballs instead of an attack.

Just as Naruto neared the Hagraven with his kunai, Do'Jhan approached her from behind with his iron sword, falling in synchronization with his friend as they raised their blades and stabbed her in the chest and back, throwing her to the side and following up with an arrow and bolt to the head, putting her out of her misery.

Relaxing, they stood up straight and just stared at the body, Naruto absently pulling the ring from her clutches, as it was too small for her claws. Then they turned to each other.

"...BAHAHAHAHAHA!" Do'Jhan was reacquainted with the ground once again.

 _"Oh screw you Do'Jhan!"_

 **(Whiterun)**

Trudging back to Kynesgrove and taking the carriage back to Whiterun, all while Do'Jhan got his snickers under control and Naruto stewed in his embarrassment and annoyance, they found Ysolda again.

"I'm sorry to hear about the marriage." Ysolda apologized as she took the ring back.

"T-truly, hrk, it was not meant to be, hehe!" Do'Jhan responded, his giggles returning.

 _"I am going to punch you so hard..."_ Naruto whispered venomously.

"I suppose you'll be heading to Morvunskar to tell everyone else the bad news? You even said you had a staff that would take care of the guests; that sounded like something interesting to witness." Ysolda lamented with a shrug.

Wordlessly, yet with heated glares and giggles, they returned to the carriage and rode towards Windhelm, the closest place the carriage would go to near Morvunskar, according to the map.

 **(Morvunskar)**

Having trudged across the bridge, down the road, and up the hill-path, they made it to Morvunskar, a large fortress.

"First thing I'm doing is beating Sam's face in with that staff for all this shit." Naruto commented as they headed for the entrance tunnel.

"Wasn't that Do'Jhan's intention for the hangover?" The Khajiit asked.

"Screw you; I'm doing it first." Naruto rebutted with a scowl.

"Fine, fine, but Do'Jhan wants a crack at him fo-" A metallic clank cut him off, and he looked down, finding he stepped on some copper plate. Several spouts throughout the tunnel began shooting out flames.

"Fuuuuck!" Naruto yelled, breaking into a dead sprint. "Does today just have some vendetta against me and want to set me on fire?! I prefer being eaten by things!" He said.

Do'Jhan was busy trying to put out his tail while running at the same time; sometimes being a Khajiit sucked.

"Intruders!" A man in a robe yelled, his hands sparking with shock magic.

"Oh come on! Mages?!" Naruto yelled indignantly once they cleared the tunnel.

"That is it! Once we are done with this shit, and one of us has caved in Sam's face with the staff, Do'Jhan is taking up magic! This one is getting tired of people throwing fireballs at him!" The Khajiit snapped, firing arrows to take down the mages and the random summon.

"I should probably take up elemental ninjutsu, too, especially since I now have Sasuke's eye so it's got a touch of his lightning affinity." Naruto commented once the utter bullshit died down, joining his friend with a storm of bolts. His fun died down when one of the mages, the asshole shooting shards of ice, summoning a golem of the stuff, their bolts and arrows sticking into it like a shield. "Shit; what the fuck is that?" He asked.

"That is a Frost Atronach; unless you have a fire technique we're going to be in trouble, unless you want to go toe-to-toe with it yourself?" Do'Jhan asked rhetorically, since no one was so stupid to-

"Sure!"

...Do'Jhan is not surprised.

Naruto created five clones and charged the Atronach, stampeding right over its summoner, and engaged the summon, taking advantage of its lumbering movements with ease. Once of the clones even managed to **Rasengan** one of its arms off, then use it as a club, while being a bit cruel.

"Why you hitting yourself? Why you hitting yourself? Why you hitting yourself?"

Let it never be said Naruto's clones were any more mature than the original.

The legion of Naruto's finished it off with a **Rasenrengan.**

"Did you have fun?" Do'Jhan asked.

"Maybe a little bit." Naruto admitted.

"Then let's head inside; let's go for a stealthy approach. It's usually dark inside this fortresses." Do'Jhan advised, receiving a nod as they entered as quickly as they could to minimize the chance that they would be noticed. To the left they found a room that looked to be where everyone gathered to eat, currently empty, while to the right was what appeared to be the smithy, according to the clangs, a door that was barred by something when checked, and a set of stairs heading down.

"...and what've they got me doing?" A mage was complaining to his friend, who was sitting at a small table close by.

"Working the forge." They said together, the woman's tone pointing out this was a regular occurrence.

"Why am I even doing this; we don't _use_ weapons!" The man continued.

Before they could continue their inane conversation, Naruto snuck up behind the woman and slit her throat, Do'Jhan taking out the man with an arrow to the throat.

"Why _are_ they forging weapons? They use magic." Naruto pointed out once the man fell.

"Probably to sell so they can afford magic and alchemy supplies." Do'Jhan responded with the most-likely scenario.

"Eh, probably." Naruto agreed with a shrug, looking around the room for any supplies they could find. "Oh hey, some of those ingots Adrianne showed me. What're these clumps, though?" He asked, immediately sealing the ingots but picking up the chunks of what appeared to be similar material.

"Those are ores, materials freshly harvested from veins that can be smelted in ingots. These are also iron." Do'Jhan answered, picking up the book next to the ores on smithing, Cherim's Heart, for later use to learn the process better and putting it into a backpack he bought from Naruto's blacksmith friend, equipped with the seal as well, when they last passed through Whiterun.

"Oh cool. We should probably head downstairs next. I'm taking these for smelting, then." Naruto said, sealing the ores and heading out of the room and down the stairs with Do'Jhan.

Going through the door at the foot of the stairs and down the hallway to the set of stairs overlooking a large room with a separate set of stairs leading up to a throne, with a dining area to the side of the stairs, two individuals in black robes in each area. "Fuck, more mages." Naruto cursed under his breath, both of them crouching down before they were seen.

"Do'Jhan will take the ones on the left, you take the ones on the right?" The Khajiit supplied.

Merely nodding, Naruto got out his crossbow and aimed at the head of the mage arrogantly sitting in the throne, watching as the second mage paced in front of him, as they were having some conversation he couldn't hear, or find himself to care about, while Do'Jhan took out his bow and aimed at the seated mage in the side area.

Right when they would be lined up by the time the bolt would get there, Naruto fired, cursing when the projectile proved to not have adequate piercing, as it only took out the pacing mage, the seated one shocked before getting to his feet and alighting his hands with electricity and some orb of purple energy, Do'Jhan taking out his target, taking out a second arrow before the mage previously leaning against the wall could attack him. Part of the danger in dealing with mages was the fact they threw around stuff like fire and lightning; without a shield or wards, getting in close was suicide.

"Fuck your fire, asshole!"

...Unless you were Naruto, apparently.

Deftly taking out the mage before his flames could reach him, Do'Jhan actually used them against him, his arrow catching fire mid-flight and hitting him right in the eye, setting his face on fire, the Khajiit moving in to behead him as he ran around and screamed. After that, he just watched his friend tank the mages Sparks spell, looking closely to find his friend sheathed in chakra; apparently it could act as a shield for Naruto and his people. Sort of like Iron- or Oakflesh. Anyway, Naruto closed in, completely ignoring the Flame Atronach the mage summoned, and jabbed a kunai in his throat, the summon fizzling out of this plane with his death.

"...Do'Jhan is just going to give up trying to understand your thought process." The Khajiit admitted, shaking his head as he wrapped his bow around his torso.

"It's probably for the best." Naruto agreed cheekily, managing to salvage the bolt he used from the other mage. "So, uh, Do'Jhan? What's with this chest up here? Oh, and this giant thing that opened up when I got up here?" He asked.

"Well, in places like this, chests usually hold objects the denizens have horded. Do'Jhan is not sure about this 'giant thing' you speak of." The Khajiit answered as he headed up the stairs. "Oh... _that_ sort of giant thing." He said once he reached the top.

The 'thing' in question was some sort of large, spherical concentration of energy that was dark in the center, like a black hole.

"I get the feeling... that we should walk into it." Naruto commented with narrowed eyes.

"...And now this one questions your thought process again; _what?!"_ Do'Jhan asked indignantly.

"It has Sam's signature and scent; he had energy similar to magicka, but not quite like it, and holding Kurama gives me an enhanced sense of smell, and I remember Sam's scent. It's coming from this thing. I think it's a portal." Naruto explained.

"It is possible, but Do'Jhan is hesitant to step in; he has heard tell of portals such as these. We are in the Fourth Era of Tamriel, which was denoted by the end of the Oblivion Crisis, a time in which the Daedra Prince Mehrunes Dagon entered this realm and sought to destroy all things. All across the land, portals to the Oblivion realm, home of the daedra, opened and brought forth the beasts; portals much like this." Do'Jhan imparted on the blonde, keeping a cautious distance from the portal. His mother imparted upon him tales from her grandfather, Q'Grawn, as he had bore witness to these portals, and fought valiantly against the daedra. Q'Grawn was a great spellsword, but he too fell to the creatures, survived by his son, Dro'Kahst, Do'Jhan's grandfather.

"Well, no daedra are coming out yet. But if we head in and have to fight a bunch of them, we can probably take them. But just in case..." Naruto said, closing his eyes to concentrate, before his body burst with chakra, entering his **Rikudou Sennin Modo,** turning two **Gudodama** into a pair of staves. "You ready?" He asked, cross-pupiled eyes staring into the portal.

After emptying the chest behind them into his backpack, Do'Jhan readied his swords. "Khajiit is ready." He said somewhat resignedly. While he believed Naruto could defeat the daedra, Do'Jhan did not believe he would survive to see it.

Together, they charged into the portal.

 **(Misty Grove)**

 **"Fuuton: Rasen-!"** Naruto immediately readied the normal version of his strongest technique, only to stop midway when he noticed where they ended up.

Instead of some desolate wasteland with probably-gravity defying monoliths and armored demons traversing the lands, or maybe some burning hell... with armored demons traversing the lands, they ended up in... a pretty nice-looking place.

A large forested area with strange plants that didn't look to be native to Tamriel, glowbugs flying about, and a creek running through the area. Before them was a stone path.

"Uh... is the Oblivion Realm supposed to be this nice?" Naruto asked.

"Do'Jhan would not know; however, we would be wise to not let down our guard. This could be a ruse to do just that." The Khajiit warned.

"You're right. Probably a dumb idea, too, but we should probably follow this path." Naruto pointed out.

"Agreed, it is stupid, but we should follow it just the same." Do'Jhan said.

"Love you too, Do'Jhan." Naruto responded flatly as they did so.

Whether they wanted to or not, their guards indeed fell as they followed the path, until they happened upon... a banquet.

Many people were seated at a long table, indulging in drink and food, as _that motherfucker_ Sam stood at the head of it.

"You're here! I was beginning to think you might not make it." Sam greeted them with a grin.

"What the hell is going on here, Sam?! Why did we wake up in Markarth and go on this wild goose chase - how in the _fuck_ did I marry that thing?! - and where are we?!" Naruto demanded.

"I _thought_ you might not remember your first trip here. You had a big night. I think you've definitely earned the staff." Sam continued as if Naruto said nothing.

"Good, 'cause I'm gonna use it to bash your face in. I got the stuff to fix it." Naruto said flatly.

"Oh, the Hagraven father and so on; you can throw all those out. You see..." Sam began, before he was engulfed in what looked like the same thing that summoned the Atronach's. **"I really just needed something to encourage you to go out into the world and spread merriment."** 'Sam' continued with a smile, appearing with obsidian skin, red tattoos, and glossy, sleek black armor with red trim and a red length of cloth hanging down at the waist. **"And you did just that! I haven't been so entertained in at least 100 years."** He added with a laugh.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?! Who are you really?" Naruto demanded.

 **"I am Sanguine, Daedric Lord of Debauchery!"** The being formerly known as Sam announced with an over-exaggerated flourish. **"I know, I know, how could I lie to you? Well, how could I trust you until we've shared a few drinks? But hey, it wasn't long before I realized you'd make a more interesting bearer of my not-quite-holy staff than this** _ **waste of flesh."**_ Sanguine said, gesturing towards himself, probably referring to Sam.

"Why did you choose us, daedra?" Do'Jhan asked with narrowed eyes.

 **"Relax, cat, I'm not gonna attack you two; you guys are too fun to kill! But to be honest, I don't always think my decisions through. But you two... you're going places, boys."** Sanguine said, resting a hand on both of their shoulders. **"Maybe a little influence with your old uncle Sanguine could help adjust your course a bit..."** He said, bringing his hands together and creating a miniature version of the portal that changed him, manipulating and stretching the energy, raising it to the sky and revealing the staff they desired.

It looked like an extremely elongated rose, as long as Sanguine was tall, and he was _tall._ More so than either Naruto or Do'Jhan; somewhere in the 6' 6 range.

Taking the offered staff, Naruto was a bit conflicted, but he still sort of wanted to bash Sanguine's face in. "Thanks, I guess..." He said, unsure.

 **"My pleasure. But I think it's time for you to go. No fun keeping you locked up in here with the staff."** Sanguine said, snapping his fingers as his targets of interest were engulfed in a portal. "Oh, and cat, head to Helgen; everything starts there!"Sanguine called just before they were gone, turning into what looked like Sam, but wearing a hood and cloak over his robes.

"Wait, how can we be in the sta-" Naruto was interrupted as they were whisked away.

"Shady Sam?!" Do'Jhan yelled indignantly.

 **"Like hell I'm going to let either of them bash my face in with my own staff. I like them, but not** _ **that**_ **much."** Sanguine muttered once they were gone, changing back.

 **(Bannered Mare)**

"...No Sakura-chan I'm sorry!" Naruto yelled, 'waking up' from his seat at the table.

"Do'Jhan should have _known_ the daedra was involved in his business!" Do'Jhan yelled in frustration when he woke up.

"To be honest, it _did_ seem sort of obvious, meeting one Sam when you need to meet another? Well, either way he sort of helped us. But... oh what?! Was all that a dream?!" Naruto questioned indignantly when he noticed they were right where they were last night.

"Uh, Do'Jhan does not think so." The Khajiit said, pointing down at the floor.

Looking where he was pointing, Naruto found the Sanguine Rose, the staff having dropped out of his hand. "Well okay then. I guess that was worth it. Though I don't know how to use a staff, so I guess you'll be taking it. What's it do, though?" He wondered, picking the staff up and exiting the inn with Do'Jhan.

"Do'Jhan is not sure; perhaps he will have to find a manuscript on Daedra artifacts, or, as you might do, just 'take a whack at it.'" Do'Jhan said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing, nothing." Do'Jhan answered with a smile neither of them bought, before they shared a laugh. "So, do you think we should trust the daedra's word about Helgen?" He asked.

"I don't see why not. Even though he sort of played us, he never did it maliciously; mostly just to relieve the boredom, and hey! We benefited." Naruto pointed out. "So let's check out this Helgen; according to the map, it should be... south of Riverwood, which is in turn south of Whiterun, both within walking distance of the next." He added, checking the map.

Before either of them could say anything else, a man ran up to them. "I've been looking for you. Got something that needed to get to you; your eyes only." The courier said, handing Naruto a letter and walking away.

"That... was weird." Naruto said, opening the letter.

 _Silus Vesuius Presents_

 _The Museum of the Mythic Dawn_

 _A history of the Cult that Toppled the Septim Dynasty_

 _Inside of his very own home in the great capital of the Pale, Dawnstar_

 _Free and open to all citizens of Skyrim_

End Ch. 2

When it rains, it pours.

Literally, it's been raining like _crazy_ around here. Last night, rained for a fucking hour. Tornado warnings and shit. Quite terrifying. If you're my dog.

But more figuratively, one quest rolling into another for our intrepid heroes! Right from A Night to Remember into Pieces of the Past; damn. Anyway, this calls for another list! This time, of the Daedric artifacts these two will _definitely_ be getting. If you want them to get the ones not listed, I'll need a concrete reason, since it would normally go against who these two are as characters.

Azura's Star ( _specifically_ the Azura version, not the Black Star)

Dawnbreaker

Masque of Clavicus Vile

Obviously Mehrunes' Razor (in a slightly different way)

Oghma Infinium

Obviously Sanguine Rose

Ring of Hircine (obviously no glitch to exploit XD and, as stated before, suddenly wanting to kill Sinding goes against who they are, so no Savior's Hide)

Spellbreaker

Volendrung

Wabbajack (how can I _not_ bring in Sheogorath? XD)

As I said, if you guys want them to get any of the other artifacts, I'll need a proper reason for them to go after them, same for if you guys want them to join the Dark Brotherhood and College of Winterhold; the former is also against who they are, and the College... is boring. So boring I haven't even sought out a mod to make it better; what does _that_ say about it?

...Or me as a person? XD

Although, I could have _sworn_ there were mods where you could get the more evil-questline artifacts in a 'nicer' way, but I can't find them. Either someone can point them out to me, or, again, provide viable reasons; otherwise, just not getting them. These two can't be like the average non-RPing player and get everything _for the sake of getting everything._

Also, for those of you who use Alternate Start, you'll recognize the mentions of Shady Sam and Helgen as the beginnings of the vanilla main quest, which they'll start on after the Forsworn Conspiracy, which will be after Pieces of the Past.

Also, I plan for most of these chapters to encompass an entire questline, barring the bigger ones, like the guilds, main quest, and DLC/DLC-sized mods, but other smaller stuff will be full chapters.

That's about everything, so as always, tell me what you think.

Ja ne!


End file.
